U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Litigation Release No. 20699 / September 3, 2008

SEC Sues Repeat Offender For Orchestrating Offering Fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced that on August 29, 2008, it filed a civil injunctive action against Donald D. LaBarre ("LaBarre") stemming from his role in the fraudulent securities offering scheme involving Homeland Communications Corporation, a purported telecommunications company that he allegedly ran and operated. On September 5, 2007, the SEC filed an emergency civil injunctive action to halt an ongoing securities offering fraud perpetrated by Homeland, Frances LaBarre, the company's reported president and LaBarre's wife, and Joseph Yurkin, Homeland's vice president of Investor Relations (See SEC v. Homeland Communications Corporation, et al. Case No. 07-80802-CIV-MARRA/JOHNSON (S.D. Fla.)). The court appointed a Receiver over Homeland and the SEC froze nearly $1.1 million in investor funds. In late 2007, the court permanently enjoined Homeland, Frances LaBarre, and Yurkin by consent from committing future violations of the federal securities laws.

The SEC's complaint against LaBarre, also filed in the Southern District of Florida, chronicles LaBarre's lengthy securities disciplinary history and alleges that from at least May 2005 through September 2007, he orchestrated Homeland's securities offering scheme that raised at least $3.8 million from approximately 250 investors. According to the SEC's complaint, directly, or by virtue of controlling Homeland, LaBarre made material misrepresentations and omissions in connection with the Homeland offering concerning: (1) promises of an upcoming Homeland initial public offering ("IPO") and the involvement of well-known investment banks in that IPO; (2) Homeland's assets and acquisitions; (3) its purported ownership of FCC licenses; and (4) its regulatory history. The complaint also alleges that LaBarre diverted to himself, his family members, and companies he and his family owned or controlled about $3.2 million of the approximately $3.8 million in Homeland investor funds. The SEC's complaint alleges that LaBarre personally solicited several investors to buy securities that Homeland issued and distributed Homeland's private placement memorandum and offering materials to at least one investor that contained numerous misrepresentations.

The SEC's complaint alleges that LaBarre violated Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The complaint seeks a permanent injunction, disgorgement plus prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty. The complaint also seeks an order directing LaBarre to repatriate assets held outside the United States.